Carlos Santana Reunites With Homeless Former Band Member

If you thought reconnecting with your old high school friends on Facebook was awesome, we’ve got a story for you. Thanks to a Bay Area TV-news report, Carlos Santana has reunited with Marcus “The Magnificent” Malone, who was once a percussionist in Santana and is currently homeless in Oakland.

Earlier this month, KRON in San Francisco ran a story as part of their “People Behaving Badly” series about a spot in Oakland that has become a haven for illegal dumping. During the filming, they found Malone rummaging through the trash and discovered that he had been a member of Santana — then known as the Santana Blues Band – until he was incarcerated, right before the band’s 1969 debut album was released. (Gawker provides the details.)

After seeing the piece, Santana contacted the station for help in finding Malone, which resulted in a follow-up story (which you can watch above). The two embraced, and Santana spoke about how gracious Malone’s family was to the band in the early days, adding that “his spirit is indomitable.”

Santana has since offered his assistance in turning Malone’s life around. In another turn of fate, it coincides with Santana reuniting the original band lineup for a new project, in which he hopes to include Malone.

“I want to offer him a place to stay in an apartment, get him some clothes and just get him out of the street,” he told CNN. “I want to offer my brother Marcus Malone an opportunity to record on the next album with the original band, with Gregg Rolie, We wrote a song for him called ‘Magnificent Marcus Malone.’ We want him to play on it and we’re going to start, Lord willing, in January or February. So I would like to get him some congas so he can get his hands hard again because he hasn’t been playing the congas in a while.”

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